1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to food processing and more particularly to a process for cooking bacon and similar meat products.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, a new heating method has been developed to overcome the foregoing disadvantages of conventional heating methods. This new method employs microwave energy. In spite of the advantages of microwave cooking, this cooking method has not been completely successfully utilized heretofore for the cooking of bacon for the following reasons. When bacon is cooked by microwaves, the bacon is reduced unevenly and tends to "blossom" or wrinkle in a characteristic rosette pattern. Bacon which has "blossomed" is not readily marketable because it is not aesthetically pleasing. Additionally, because the bacon slices are reduced unevenly the bacon product cannot be packaged by automatic or semi-automatic packaging means. Furthermore when bacon slices are shingled, that is partially overlayed to permit more compact packaging, microwave heating causes the protein portions of the bacon strips to adhere to each other making it very difficult to separate the shingled strips.
Additionally, cooking the bacon using microwaves, suffers from the further disadvantage in that because of its high fat content, bacon is especially messy to cook in a microwave oven. That is most microwave cooking instructions state that the bacon should rest on an absorbent surface such as paper towels in order to reduce splattering of the grease within the oven. Naturally this step is inconvenient, it produces messy paper towels to handle and dispose of after cooking.
Cooking the bacon using microwaves suffers from the additional disadvantage in that the raw bacon contains a substantial amount of grease and moisture, which causes a large build-up of heat and steam during the cooking process. This build-up of heat and steam, forces the consumer to wait for a cool-down period before the consumer can consume the bacon product. Further, this build-up of steam actually presents a danger for the consumer, in that if the consumer does not wait for the prescribed cool-down period, the consumer may suffer severe burns by prematurely opening the package and releasing the hot grease and steam.
Another difficulty with cooking bacon in a microwave oven arises from the fact that bacon is heterogeneous, with areas of fat and areas of lean within the same slice. Because fat and lean absorb microwave energy at different rates, it is difficult to obtain uniform cooking even within the same slice. This problem is aggravated by the fact that the bacon slices tend to curl as they are cooked. As a result, pools of melted fats and oils can accumulate on the surface of the bacon thereby causing even further non-uniformity.
Some of these difficulties encountered in attempting to cook bacon utilizing microwaves have been overcome by reformulating the food products, designing special equipment to be used with the microwave oven, or specifying detailed instructions for cooking particular food products.
Cooking of bacon in oil or grease as opposed to conventional or microwave cooking methods, has the advantage that the bacon can be cooked in its own grease thereby improving the flavor of the bacon. Additionally, oil cooking has the further advantage that the degree of crispness may be controlled during the cooking process. Further, as oil-cooking uniformly heats the bacon, burnt ends and undercooked portions are avoided. In spite of the advantages of oil cooking of bacon, the disadvantage remains that when the bacon is cooked, it is reduced unevenly and tends to "blossom" or wrinkle in the characteristic rosette pattern. Additionally, cooking bacon with oil suffers from the further limitation in that increased time and expense is incurred by the consumer.
Thus a need has arisen in the art for a process for the preparation of bacon which would utilize the advantages of conventional, oil and microwave cooking/heating processes, which would not involve the disadvantages associated with each of those methods for the cooking of bacon.